Portable trip device



May 1. 1928.

H. KARL PORTABLE TRIP DEVICE Filed March 1924 whereby the train from the rear will be Patented May 1 1928;

UNITED STATES HEDIBICH KARL, OF JERSEY CITY NEW JERSEY.

VPOB'I'AIBLE TRIP DEVICE.

Applicationfiled March '24, 1924. Serial No. 701,455.

This trip-device serves for the operation of a vent-device and other devices on the train in the well known manner which causes the stopping of thetrain. Trip-devices of all kinds of shapes beside the rails are well known and some forms of such devices are used extensively, but they are all can be easily carried by a person in charge and quickly put in place beslde the ra1l at any desirable point along the railroad line n ken a ay aga n at any ime.

Supposing a train has some mishap. or disaster and is therebycompelled to stop for a longer time than usual at a point 0 the railroad-line Where another train, perhaps of high speed, is to follow closely; itusually has been customary to senda fla an to a certain distance in the rear and ave him wave the red flag or have him place. a fusee at that point to s gnal the approaching tra n of the presence 0t another tram. This method of signalling may not, however, sufice to stop the rear train because the flagman or the fusee may not be noticed by the.

engineer ofthe rear train, as hasactually been proven in some cases, or thesrgnalmay be perceived only too late, It 1s therefore of greater value to have a device at hand stopped re ardless of the actions and intentions of t e engineer of said train. It is understoodthateach train must possess the venting device which in a well known manner operates to cause an emergency or service stop of the train. For causing a gradual diminution of the speed and a smooth stop, however, such arrangements may be madeon the train which are shown in the copending Patent a ,plications S. p 314;,588and 349,715, fi ed July 31, 191.9 and January 6,1920 res ective1y,otwhich I am corapplicant'; or w ich are shown in my co-pending Patent. applicatlon S. No. 652,531, filed July 19, 1923. These applica tions illustrate and describe automatic train control systems. 7

Nos.

In the drawings- Figure l is a diagrammatic view illustrat- PATENT OFFICE.

ing an application ofthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a front view of another form of trip device;

Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 4 is a transverse section of still another form of trip device;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the form shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse section of still another form of the trip device;

Figure 7 is a view illustrating a slight modification offthe construction shown in Figure4; and

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic view of a lo; comot ve, showing the parts carried there-. by which cooperate with the trip device.

A practical arrangement wouldbe that the trl ping device that is to'be carried easily rom a train that is stalled at some point along the road-side be so constructed that it can be a-flixed to a part of the track and after it is aflixed beside or to the rail need no further attendance by a person except for its removal. The tripping-part of this device must be sufficiently yieldable so as to incline when the engine-plough pushesit, and must have enough resistance to push the lever 17 of the vent-valve and other levers on the engine. Such trip-devices are illuss ftrated by Figs. 2 to 7, and one of these devices is su posed to: be employed in Fig. 1* and, place at the pointlndicated by 11; These devices when once aflixed do not need, e fur er attention of he person in ch rge except for their removal after the oncoming train has been controlled; The person in charge, then, may go still further to the rear at the point 12 and signal the next oncoma ing tram to stop its progress. If such sig,

nals should not be seen or not observed, the

stop ing of the oncoming train 18 willbe obtained shortly after the lever 17 isoperated by the trip-device, and thereb a col- .lision with the stalled train is avoi ed. In certain circumstances it maybecome necessary for a stalled train to-protectitself by means of more than one portable trip-device, as for instance when the train is compelled to stop at a point where one or several other railroad-lines cross or when it is a single railroad-line with trafiic in both directions. In the latter case the stalled train should be protected by portable trip-devices that are placed aoertam distance ahead of the train and a certain distance in the rear of the train. It is therefore advisable for each train to carry several of these portable tripdevices, and for more than one of the traincrew to have charge of aflixing them whenever it is necessary.

If the engine is an electrically propelled one, the electric current that is employed for propelling the train may be cut off by the operation of a lever that is arranged in a level-line and vertical plane similar to the lever 17. An example of such a device is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It is shown there that anelectric contact 38 becomes separated from two contacts '39, 40 when the lever 41 is operated by the tripping-part of the portable trip-dcvice. Similar arrangements are well known in the art and are also employed in the aforementioned co-pending Patent applications, Serial Nos. 314,588, 349,715 and 652,531, of which I amco-applicant or sole applicant respectively.

In Figs. 2 to 6 there are shown modifications of the device which include a clamplike'part that is to be placed on the head of the rail. suitable for railroads on which the part on the left of the rail 1 (according to Figs. 2

' and'4) is filled up with earth or stones or concrete, etc.

The clamp-like part is indicated by the reference numeral 56. This clamp-like part 56 consists of a top ortion that is to lie on top of the rail and is made of a relatively thin hard metal sheet over which the wheels the train is pus ing the tripping-part 58 or "58 that is constructed to allow a certain give. These flanges 57 may be thinner toward their lower edges to permit the flexibility thereof.

In Fig. 4 there is an addition shown which consists of a device that permits the better holding of the clamp-like part 56 to the rail head and consists first of a portion 59 that is added to the flange 57 that is to come in alignment with the inner side of the rail 1.

This portion 59 has a hole 60 which has a screw-winding 61 and a regular screwmay be set in there to screw on the part 56 tightly. In the form shown in Fig. 4, however, there is a pin 62 employed which has only a short screw-winding 63 near the pin head 64. With this kind of pin it is not necessary to turn as long as would be necessary when the screw-winding was extended over the whole length of the pin to reach the rail wall 1. In the example shown in Fig. 4 the pin 62 needs simply to be pushed in until the winding 63 comes in touch with the This arrangement is especially.

the hole 60. United with the flange 57 that is to come in alignment with the outside wall of the railhead is a part 65 with a hole in which a screw-winding 65 is provided that fits to the screw-winding of the shaft 66 which forms the base part of the tripping-part 58 of the device of Fig. 4. In Fig. 5 it is indicated how the stop 67 and the spring 68 are arranged to hold the tripping-part '58 in veitical position. For adjusting and securing the stop 67 and the spring 68 the part 65 is thickened on one side and provided with square holes 69 and 70. The stop 67 which on that respective part is an ular to fit in the s uare of the hole 69 is thereby held sufficient y rigid, and

rigidly in the hole 70 that is square. The

spring 68. is a simplestrong wire of flexible steel; it can be as well a coiled spring or a leaf-sprin and the aflixing thereof'may be different rom that shown in Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the modification of Fig. 6, the parts thereof are all similar to those shown in Fig. 4 except that the fastening device of the art 59 and the pin 62 is 'not employed on t e border 57 of the clamp-like part 56, and that the tripping-part58 is connected to the respective part 65 of the clamp-like part 56 in a way that is different from that shown in Fig. 4.

In the modification of'Fig. 6the shaft 66' is provided with a thickened end 71 which is revolvably inserted in the hollow provid ed for in thepa rt 65" and this hollow is so shaped to fittingly hold said shaft 66' so that it cannot be separated from the part 65" except'when theupper ortion of 65" is taken "ofi'by unscrewing it om the lower part thereof.

In Fi 7 a form of tripping-part is shown w ich in its construction is similar to the tripping-part of the" device shown in Figs. 2 to 6 as far as it concerns the upper portion of the tripping-part The differen'ce between the device of Fig. 7 and those of Figs. 2 to 6 consists in that the trippingpart shown in Fi 7 has a downwardly directed extensi0n 72 to which a weight 73 is fastened and so adjusted that it will touch the rail-base when the tripping-part is in its vertical position whereby it is provided that the tripping-part does not swing like a pendulum when hit by an obstruction on the train.

lfi

of the invention.

According to Figs. 2, 3 and 7, the art 65 is situated above the level-line of t e top portion of the part 56, while the device of Figs. 4, 5 or 6 shows the part 65,65" respectively" in a lower level-line so that the top of 65, 65 is situated in the same levelline as the top of the part 56, which is more advantageous because there is less possibility of breakage when the wheels of the train roll over the part 56.

It is understood that instead of the tripping-levers 58 or 58' a ramp may be employed and springs may be arranged between-the base-part and the ramp to allow. the latter to have some give when hit by an obstruction like the plough of the engine. As the weight of the device would, however,

be increased if a ramp were employed instead of one of the illustrated trippingparts, the latter seem to be preferable.

Having described my invention, I wish to make it understood that there may be many additions or changes possible without however departing from the spirit and scope tread, one of said flanges having a bearing.

depending below the tread of the rail, a retaining member adjustable in said bearing and engageable with the web of the rail directly beneath the tread thereof, a bushing extendin from the other depending flange, and a trip arm threaded in said bushin 2. A portable trip device for controlling the operation of braking mechanism of a train, including a plate capable of restin upon the tread of a rail and having depen' ingflanges engageable with the sides of said tread, a bushing extending from one of said flanges, a trip arm having a laterally extending shaft rotatable in said bushing, and a spring member carried by said bushing and engageable with said trip arm to yieldably maintain the arm in avertical position.

HEINRICH KARL. 

